A Brother's Love
by Spirit Marcher
Summary: In the midst of an old vendetta, our favorite cannon cast gets sucked into plot big enough to take down the entire Navy. Mean while, they learn of a childhood tragedy and the existance of a dying planet long thought to be gone. On top of that they have to deal with their own family disaster. As cracks start to form, they struggle to stay in one piece.
1. The Pain of a Brother's Love

For those of you who have read my story _Here and Now_, this is a much better version of that. I started writing that story when I was a sophomore in high school and my writing skills were appalling. I'm now a sophomore in college and I can honestly say that my writing skills are more developed.

If you were someone who read that story before, then you should know most of what I had is going to change except for the very basic concept and some story line. Also, David's name is now Dylan

I can honestly say I am going to finish this one because I have the whole thing outlined, 37 pages worth. I will **try** and post as often as a chapter every 7 days on Thursday at around 4:00.

_**I know a lot of people look for their favorite people from the movie and I will use them all, but read everything, not just the parts with your favorite character or it won't make sense.**_

**If you're someone who likes a tear jerker this first chapter is perfect for you but I don't start with the Treasure Planet cannon until the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Pain of a Brother's Love**

Ominous and crumbling, like everything in this once vast city, the skyscrapers stood as a terrible reminder of just how bad the situation had become. These once great buildings use to stand firm and tall, like a symbol of power and strength. Now they are vacant and crumbling to the earth in which they originally came from. Earth was a beautiful place and then man came along and began stripping the surface for its recourses. I guess Mother Nature had enough and decided she was going to take back what the people took from her: everything. It's almost poetic justice. This is not what actually happened, but it is a good way of putting it because, as eroded as the buildings look, it is almost as if the earth is trying to swallow it all up again.

"War zone" is the best way to describe this rather massive ghost town. The air is dry and being scorched by the sun to nearly 110°F (43°C) Dust is thick in the air. It covers the sidewalks and streets like snow in the winter, though this city rarely sees snow. There are no tire tracks in the dust because there is rarely moving vehicles, and when there is they are covered back up in a matter minuets. Only the wind keeps there from being feet deep layers.

Thousands of people left a long time ago for the outer reaches if the galaxy and left their cars behind because they couldn't take them. Sadly, they cannot be used anymore because they're centuries old.

The saddest part of the city is a simple sign sitting at the city limits, bent and rusted. It only lasted as long as it did due to the dry air. It shakes and wobbles in the wind desperately trying with all of its strength to stay standing to greet the very few people who see it.

* * *

Alex wished he could just sit down for a moment, but he knew better than that. They had to keep moving until they were home because they weren't safe outside. They had found food, which was hard to come by, and like them, everyone else was looking for some too. He knew that if someone older spotted them with food there was a good chance they would try and take it. He and his brother were only kids, nine and five years old, not even in the double digits yet and could easily be taken advantage of. It was the most difficult thing Alex ever had to do, and that was taking care of his younger brother Jake and he had been doing it for two years now. Sometimes, at night, after he tucked him in and sang to him until he was asleep, he would go into the next room, curl up under the blanket and cry himself to sleep while wondering what he did to deserve this life he was living.

"Alex, I'm tired and my feet hurt, can we sit down and eat our food now?"

Before he could answer his stomach growled. He gave a weary sigh and looked down at his brother who was holding his hand and sucking his thumb.

"You need to stop that. You're not a baby anymore," he said trying to side step the question.

"Can we please eat now?" he wasn't going to get around the question.

"No, it's not safe." He tugged on Jake's hand and began to walk faster. He looked down when Jake said nothing to see tears welling up in his eyes. Sometimes he had to stop and remember living like this was just as hard and scary for his brother as it was for him. He hated seeing him upset so he gave in and drug him to an ally so they could sit down and eat in the shadows.

When they were done what little food they had Alex grabbed Jakes hand and stared walking again. They were two blocks from their home when Alex noticed people in black uniforms watching them from a distance. He looked behind them and seen that there were more coming up behind them and fast. All of the dust on the ground had dampened the sound of any footsteps so he had not heard them before. Panic set in and his feet seemed to act on their own accord. He ran as fast as he could, dragging the five year old with him. Now the people in black were running after them. Fifty feet. He had to make it. Forty feet. It was his job to protect his brother. Thirty feet. What do these people want? Twenty feet. He can't cry now. Ten feet. He was going to make it. The last thing he saw was his brother crying and he knew he had failed.

* * *

When he came to, he was in a strange place. He was on a cot and his brother was next to him, still unconscious.

"Jake, wake up." All he got was a groan.

"Jake, come on buddy, time to wake up."

"No, it's too early."

"It's not early, these bad people took us remember?"

He shot up and yelped. He looked around at the strange place before grabbing onto his brother tightly and looked up at Alex with scared eyes.

"What's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know," he said. Alex tried to calm him down by running his hand through his hair and humming softly like he remembered his mother doing for him when he was scared. Thinking about his mother often made him sad but more than anything, it made him angry. He tried not to think about it but sometimes he couldn't help it.

Suddenly, the door opened and a man in strange cloths came in the room. His cloths were nice but they looked like something the good guys in his pirate picture book would wear. The cloths only distracted his for three seconds before he remembered where he was and what had happened.

"What do you want?" he asked while standing up to hide his brother behind him.

"Relax boy, I'm not going to hurt your brother. My name is William Castington" He didn't move.

"What do you want?"

"Living life trying to raise a child when you're no more than a child yourself is a terrible way to live. I'm here to offer you a better one." Alex didn't trust the man. Even though dressed like a good guy, he certainly didn't sound like one.

"Why?" he asked cautiously.

"Because I simply want to make this world a better place. A child going hungry is a terrible thing. If you stay you will get fed three times a day and will have a nice place to sleep. You won't have to worry about you and your brother's safety every second of the day."

It sounded like the best thing he had ever heard. But, if there was one thing he had learned in the last two years it was that you had to trust your instincts or you could end up dead. Right now his instincts were saying run, this person is not trying to help you.

"Can I have time to think about it?"

"Certainly, although I don't see why you need to think about it." He turned and swiftly left the room.

"Did you hear that Alex, he said we'd get to eat three times a day!"

"We need to get out of here."

"What, why!"

"I know it sounds like a good thing but I think he's lying to us. I don't trust him."

Jake really didn't want his brother to be right. He'd love to eat three times a day and not feel so scared all the time. He wanted his brother to not be sad too. He knew that his brother was almost never wrong and even if he was he was only trying to keep them safe so he didn't say anything.

"Come on. We're getting out of here and going home."

"How are we gonna find our home."

"We just will. We have to," he spoke quietly.

They snuck softly out the door and quickly made their way down the hall. They made it around two corners when they heard people running after them.

"Their coming, we have to run faster!" Alex was terrified but he tried his best to hide it from the frightened five year old to his left. As he went around another corner he ran into someone causing both boys to go sprawl to the floor.

"Well, look what we have here. Two little lost boys. Didn't your mother ever tell you it was rude to run in the hallways." The stranger grabbed both boys the hair causing Jake to yell in pain.

"Stop, you're hurting him," yelled Alex.

"Oh, am I?" the man laughed and gripped Jakes hair even tighter. Jake was crying now.

"Please, stop," Alex cried in anguish. "Please, let him go!"

"Seamus!"

The man dropped them quickly.

"Sorry sir, they were trying to get away."

Castington gave a short nod in Seamus' direction.

"Bring them back to the room, and tie them to chairs this time."

Seamus grabbed the back of their necks and led them through the building and back to a room across from the one where they woke up. He sat them down into metal chairs and tied their arms to the arms of the chair so they couldn't get away. Then he gagged them with duct tape and left them there for nearly 24 hours in the dark.

* * *

The next day someone opened the door and turned on the light. After not having light nearly a day it now hurt their eyes, like looking directly at the noon summertime sun.

When their eyes came back into focus they seen it was Castington who had come through the door way.

"Boys, I'm rather disappointed in you, trying to run away from me like that. I offer you a better life and you throw my kindness back in my face. I would blame your rudeness on your parents but you don't have any, do you? You will both, of course, be severely punished for what you have done."

Alex's eye grew wide with panic.

"Every child must to learn their lesson when they do something wrong. I might lessen the punishment if you reconsider my offer," he said as he pulled the duct tape off of Alex's mouth.

"Please, don't hurt my brother. He was only doing what I told him to do. It wasn't his idea. Please, don't hurt him."

"But I must. He did something wrong."

"No he didn't. He listened to me; he is supposed to do that."

Castington considered him for a few moments before speaking. "Very well, I will not harm your brother, if that means you will stay of your own free will." It was more of a question than a statement.

"Good. Seamus, show young Jacob the toy room."

He untied him lead him out of the room. Castington watched them leave and then looked back to see the panic in the older boys eyes.

"Don't worry, I will take good care of him and raise him. You are going to suffer a far worse fate. You will never see him again and six months from now you won't remember his name. One year from now you will have forgotten him altogether. With that he left the boy tied to the chair to cry and realize he failed as an older brother and protector.

* * *

Four years later:

He stood outside of the city looking at the bent and rusted sign at the city limits. He was now the same age as his brother when he had lost Alex. For four years he watched from the outside in as they tortured his brother until there was nothing left of his mind. He silently vowed to avenge his brother.

"Cornelius Jacobson Castington. We do not have time to stop. We must be on time or the ship will leave without us."

"Coming Uncle William," said Jake in the British accent that felt strange coming out of his mouth and that he was forced to use. He took one last look at the decrepit sign before taking his 'Uncle's' hand and disappearing into thin air.

The saddest part of the city is a simple sign sitting at the city limits, bent and rusted. It shakes and wobbles in the wind desperately trying with all of its strength to stay standing to greet the very few people who see it: 'Welcome to Los Angeles.' It stands there a clear symbol of tragedy. But Jake saw something else; he saw it as a reason to hope.


	2. Together Again

For those of you who were keeping up _Here and Now, _this is where these two stories start to line up. You are going to notice some major changes.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

"_I know why families were created with all their imperfections. They humanize you. They are made to make you forget yourself occasionally, so that the beautiful balance of life is not destroyed." _ -_Anais Nin_

Chapter 2: Family is Where the Heart Is.

The Space Port was extremely busy this time of year because it was the perfect time to travel and the weather was nice so everyone was out and about. The only real down side to it was it made it difficult to get anything done. Walking past all of the shops and vendors could have been relaxing from all of the aromas you could smell and the different things you could by if it weren't for all of the people.

Ships were docked everywhere and sailors were bustling to get things loaded and unloaded. Cargo of all sizes littered every possible hanger in site. After many years of coming back and forth one got tired of wondering what was in them.

Delbert was brought out of his thoughts when heard someone yelp.

"Ow!"

When he turned around Darren was clutching his nose with his hands and the other five were laughing at him.

"Darren, what happened?"

"Nothing." His grumbled comment only made the others laugh harder.

"Alright, what did you do to him?"

"We didn't **do** anything." It was the typical answer that Derek always gave him and usually he was lying. Delbert tried to give him a raised eyebrow but he never felt it was as effective as when Amelia did it.

"No, we swear, it's his own fault." Now Angelina was backing him up.

"Yeah, it's not like we made him run into that pole. It was only the size of a small tree; anyone could have easily run into it." Alexis, always sarcastic, defiantly gets it from her mother.

"Maybe if you would spend more time watching where you were going and stop ogling that waitress every time we pass, this wouldn't be the second time you've run into something," Abby imputed. It was like an automatic reflex when one of them opened their mouth they all had to. The four of them had been like that since they could only speak baby gibberish.

"I wasn't ogling! I was uh- I was- reading the menu."

"What did the sign say, 'Today's special is human female with a side of long blonde hair?'"

"Dylan! Don't help them!"

"Alright, alright, stop laughing at your brother. And you, I know your fifteen but please try and keep your hormones in check."

Darren's only reply was to turn bright red causing the others to start giggling again.

The rest of the walk was completed in silence, which was fine with Delbert. It was the kind of day where you did not want to say anything, just take everything in and relax. Blue skies, cool temperatures, different sites to see. As much as any of them wanted to go into the different shops, they were going somewhere specific and they didn't want to be late.

It had been nearly four months since the last time he saw his wife, back in January. It was the longest Amelia had been on a voyage since she semi-retired sixteen years ago. His kids were just as excited to see her as well. Her ship had not come in yet but they liked to get there early and watch as the _Legacy _docked. Delbert actually found it quite terrifying as close as his kids liked to get to the edge of the dock. He could never understand why they liked practically standing under the ship as it came down and gave the illusion that it was going to land right on top of you. They had been watching the ship come in all of their life so they did not have the same fear.

This little outing was sort of a surprise. He knew Amelia would be expecting him and the twins because they were always here to greet her, but she didn't know about their older four. They were nineteen and just finished their first year of college there days ago. It had been a surprise to him when he came home the other day to find them sitting on the couch and boxes upon boxes of stuff sitting by the steps. He thought they weren't supposed to be home for another week. They later decided to surprise Amelia as well.

They made it to the dock and could do nothing but stand, wait, and watch the sky. Derek was the first to spot the ship.

"Hey, guys, I think that's it." His arm was extended at a forty-five degree angle strait out from the dock. Sure enough, it was the _Legacy_ and she was about five minutes out. Eventually she docked and Delbert decided they should go get lunch and bring it back in about an hour to give Amelia time to tie up all loose ends. When they came back they seen the last of the crew members come down the gang plank followed by Anthony Jackson, Amelia's first mate.

"Doctor Doppler, did you make it here alright?"

"Yes, we did. Thank you for asking. Was the trip alright?"

"Great, it went quiet smoothly. I see you brought everyone. I wasn't expecting to see you older four."

"We're a surprise," stated Alexis. "I wanted to be in a giant gift box but nobody would carry me. So we came up with another idea. Why were you not expecting us?"

"Your mother sees to it that she is The Captain at all time. Someone to be respected and I will admit at times she can be quiet feared as well."

The simple statement made everybody smile.

"But that never stops her from bragging about her kids. She's told me several times when you finish your first year of college, which I thought was still days away."

"Awe, she brags about us." It made Abby feel good for about five seconds until she frowned. "Wait! She does only tell you the good things, right?" Her comment made Tony laugh.

"I would love to stay and catch up more but I have a transport to catch. It was nice talking to you."

They all said their goodbyes and Tony left while the seven made their way up the ship.

Amelia was filing the last of her paperwork when she heard knocking coming from the door. She pray it wasn't the customer coming be to complain about the shipment. She had been away from her family far longer than she would have liked to be and an angry buyer would only delay her further. When she opened the door she was greeted by sight that was much more pleasant.

"Hi mom/mum," the twins coursed at the same time, Delbert standing right behind them

"Boys, you're here!"

"Aren't we always?" Darren said as they each gave her a hug.

"Hey, aren't you happy to see me?"

"Couldn't be happier." With that she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that he more than willingly gave back.

"Ew. Please stop," said Darren

"Of course the three of us would be here," said Dylan after they broke their kiss. Delbert frowned before looking around. The quadruplets were nowhere in sight. He immediately knew something was up and he didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. However, he chose to keep his mouth closed.

"Are you hungry mum? We brought lunch," Dylan offered.

"Lunch would be wonderful."

As Delbert was handing out the food he realized there was only enough food for four people and everything the quads had ordered had disappeared from the bags.

"Why on Montressor did they give you twice as many sets of utensils?"

Apparently, they didn't grab everything.

As they ate they told stories back and forth in the last four months. They could easily communicate with Amelia on the ship but they liked it far better. The twins told stories about school and friends. Dylan embarrassed Darren by relaying the pole accident. Amelia told them about her Journey and Delbert one or two stories about work.

"Hey, mom, want to see a magic trick. I'm a lot bet than when you left."

"Sure love, show me."

He grabbed a blanket and stood off to the side and held out the blanket in front of him. He shimmied it back and forth while raising it slowly so you could see both of his lags at the bottom of the blanket. He brought it back down and up again and one of his legs were missing. It was obvious that he was standing on one leg while the other was still behind the sheet. He brought it back down again and back up again and the other leg was missing.

"Ta-Da!"

They all gave him weird looks that clearly said he was an idiot.

"Okay, I can see that you are not impressed so I will have to step it up a little."

He stared shimming the sheet one more time and this time when he brought it up the missing meals in their bags from earlier were on the floor.

"How did you do that?"

"I can't tell you."

"That explains the extra utensils."

Dylan spoke up, clearly acting because he knew good and well what the extra food was for. "Hey, Magic Moron, what are you going to do with all of that extra food?"

"I'll use my magic, of course." He threw the sheet over the bags for about three seconds before whipping it off really fast. "Bam!" The food was still there. Amelia spoke up.

"I don't think it worked, love."

"Oh, but it did. Sometimes the answer is right behind you."

"I think you mean in front of you."

"No. It's behind you," he said while he pointed his finger.

She turned around and standing behind her were her older four kids.

"Ta-Da!" they shouted at the same time.

Amelia was stunned beyond words and before she could regain her speech she was engulfed in hugs from all four of them at once.

"Ha! Who's a moron now?"

"Still you." Dylan said pointedly. The comment earned him a dirty look and just for fun, he threw in one more. "Pole Face."

"How did you do that?"

"Dad, I can't tell you, or then it wouldn't be magical."

"Delbert, did you know they were here?"

"Yes, but I did not know they were going to do that. They were there when we talked to Anthony and ten seconds later we were coming through the door and they were gone."

They sat around and talked some more while everyone finished eating and then left to catch the next transport back to Montressor. They were sitting quietly in the tram when Amelia noticed Dylan rubbing his head.

"What's the matter, love?"

"It's nothing, just a headache."

"Do you want some aspirin?"

"No, I'll be fine, thanks."

She wanted to press the issue but she felt Delbert tug on her sleeve. She looked at him and he shook his head no. She could tell in his eyes that he was making a silent that they would talk about it when they were alone. She turned away and didn't say anything else. Amelia had a feeling these were more than headaches.

Later that night, when they were alone in their bedroom, she brought the subject back up.

"What was that, on the tram earlier?" she asked as she sat down on the bed.

"I'm not entirely sure." Delbert said from the closet

"What do you mean 'you're not sure'?"

He walked out in his pajamas and spoke as he walked around to his side of the bed.

"He's been having these headaches for about three weeks. At first, I thought that maybe he was getting sick but they seem to be random. As far as him refusing the aspirin, it hasn't been helping him. He was taking them at first but they weren't the slightest helpful.

"Why didn't you tell me one of the numerous times we talked over the communicators."

"I didn't want to worry you without knowing what it was first so I took him to the doctors. They couldn't find anything wrong with him. After that the headaches stopped. That was a week ago and earlier was the first time he's had one since then."

Amelia was upset that he had not said anything to her before now but it was late and it was the first time she had been home in a while so she accepted his answer with a short nod. The bed shifted behind her and then his arms wrap around her.

"I know you don't like my reasoning and that you're mad. I can see it in your face."

She turned around to face him. She let out a sigh and was about to speak but Delbert spoke first.

"I'm sorry. I should have said something." He always surprised her. She knew he wasn't really all that sorry but he was trying to be the bigger person and not start a fight. What little anger she was feeling at him had melted away.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just upset that there is something wrong with our son and there is nothing we can do."

"Look, he's fifteen and going through puberty. I'm sure that's why he's getting migraines. Darren bound to have his fair share as well." he paused for a moment to remember what happened before. "Especially if he doesn't stop staring at every girl he sees and running into poles."

Amelia gave him a puzzled look. He told her what happened and Amelia could not help but to laugh really hard.

"I wanted to laugh when it happened but the others were already making him feel bad."

Finally, her laughter resided.

"We're good right, you're really not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad. You're probably right; the headaches are just from puberty."

"Good, because are other ways I'd rather be spending your first night back home than being mad at each other."

"What ways would those be?" she asked as he kissed the back of her neck.

"Over, under, and everything _in_ between," he whispered in her ear as he turned off the light. It was going to be a long sleepless night and she was going to love every breathless minute of it.


	3. Family Goes Everywhere Together

For those of you who were keeping up _Here and Now, _this is where these two stories start to line up. You are going to notice some major changes.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

_Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts.  
- Author Unknown_

Chapter 3:

It was one of those lazy summer mornings where the only real reason to get up was to eat. The heat had not quite kicked in for the day and there was a nice breeze blowing. Delbert decided to take advantage of it before it grew too hot and opened the kitchen windows while he made breakfast. He slowly moved around making food and setting the table almost automatically while his mind was somewhere completely different.

Monterssor had its own uniqueness and the Doctor was quite fond of it because he had grown up in the Manor as it had been in his family for generations. But, when it came to the summer he couldn't help but to think about Terra, the planet his Aunt Helen lived on. He would always visit for the summer. It was a quiet little planet that most people didn't think too of as because it was so for from most in habited plants. But the sight was defiantly breath taking. A majority of the planet it used to grow crops for the most of that quadrant of the galaxy. It had always perplexed Delbert how they grew all of that food and harvested it every year in and had enough that there never seemed to be a shortage. It had been so long since he had gone there that now they only thing he thinks about is how much he missed it. It was mornings like these when he would image he was a boy again running through golden wheat fields with his cousin, taking deep breaths of unpolluted air.

He was so far it to the fantasy that he practically jumped out of his skin when the front door slammed shut.

"Is someone there?"

"It's just me, Delbert. It was a cadet here to give me my next assignment."

"Oh, what far off mystery will you be traveling to this time?"

"I, my dear Doctor, am about to find out."

She looked down at the stove and tapped the edge of the envelope to the counter to get his attention.

"The real mystery is whether you can eat that if it gets that black."

His food was about three seconds from going up in flames.

"Damn!"

Amelia sat down at the table to read her letter while she left her husband to scramble about the kitchen while wishing she hadn't taught him so many cuss words. Taking one of many sharp nails, she tore open the paper and removed the contents.

_Admiral Marcus Fletcher 54898 Arlington Rd. Monterssor Space Port Intersteller Academy _

_June 7, 897 S.R._

_Captain Amelia Doppler 9875 Lindle Dr. Port City, Montressor_

_Dear Captain Doppler:_

_It is by verbal request that Commodore Elling has asked you to be the leading Captain of a three ship Expedition. The assignment is to charter delegates to 3678 sector where the Royal Empire's court recently purchased land from Sigma. Your accompanying Captains would be Captain James Hawkins of the __**Firerider **__and Captain Michelle Still of the __**Star Glider. **__The trip is approximately five months and the launch date is June 22. This not a formal military demand and you have the right to refuse the mission. Commodore Elling is more than willing to pay you double the standard pay rate of a trip of this kind. If you are uncertain, I am available all day in my office and you may come in at any time with any questions you may have. If you have a certain yes or no answer please send me a letter so that another Captain may be requested or so that you may be sent pre-voyage meeting details._

_Thank You,_

_Admiral Fletcher_

Amelia set the letter down contemplating the pros and cons. Five months was too long to be gone but the pay would be incredible.

"I sorry, did you say something, love?"

"I said the food is almost ready, could you find our adolescent food vacuums."

"Adolescent food vacuums," she chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, where do you come up with things like that?"

"It sounded more creative than bottomless pits."

Setting the letter aside she when upstairs to find her kids.

They eight of them sat around the table various things in small groups until Delbert asked about the letter again and then all eyes were on Amelia.

"Another mission, Mom?" questioned Derek.

"Is it another long one?" added Dylan.

"Yes and yes. It's a five month trip."

"What!"

"Thank you everyone, for yelling that at the same time. People 300 miles from here heard you. If you would let me finish, I don't think I'm going to accept it."

"But you might," Dylan said uncertainly.

"Yes," she answered slowly and uncertainly. "It depends."

"Depends on what?" questioned Angelina as she took a bite of toast.

"On what Admiral Fletcher has to say when I go to his office this afternoon. The letter did not give enough details for me to make a certain decision without talking to someone first. I have a feeling Hawkins is going to try convince me to accept."

"Jim?" Delbert gave her a puzzled look. "He's part of the assignment as well?"

"Yes and from the sound of the letter James does not have a choice. It's not a formal military operation so I don't have to say yes but, I was specifically requested by Commodore Elling which, in itself, is a good reason to accept. It gives me an advantage, though."

"How so?"

"I might be able to request things I wouldn't normally be able to. Elling has already stated that he would pay me double the average salary."

"That sounds like blackmail."

"Not blackmail! Simply asking for something extra and seeing if I can get it. It wouldn't anything too unreasonable."

"Like what?" their oldest son chimed in.

"The only way I'm going to accept a five month voyage is if I can bring all of you along."

The statement started quiet a commotion in the kitchen that lasted several minutes.

"Wait, what about school?" said Alexis

"We can get credit for going, through the study abroad program."

"What about the twins, Amelia."

"Five months of no school, it's a dream come true." Dylan, on the other hand, didn't look as pleased as his twin.

"You won't be missing school; you will be taking computer homeschooling courses."

"Great," they said at the same time, one of them being genuine and the other being wholly sarcastic.

Delbert and Amelia finished the rest of breakfast in silence to listen to their kids carry on excitedly. They both found out over the years that's it's difficult to get six kids to be quiet, so instead of wasting their time, they listen instead. Amelia laughed to herself because she realized that the decision had just been made for her.

The Benbow Inn was busy as it always was on a Friday night. The dining room was filled noise of people telling stories and laughter. The customers were always friendly to Sarah and the regulars always asked about her son. Those who hadn't been there before always asked if the treasure map in the glass case was the real map to treasure planet. Sarah was proud of the glass case because everything in it was her sons. Years after the voyage to Treasure Planet, and word had thoroughly spread to all ends of the galaxy of what happened people would always ask if it was true and if they could see the map. Sadly, the golden sphere in the case was only a replica that didn't open because the real map was lost when the planet exploded. In the case with the map was Jim's old Treasure Planet book that he had practically memorized as a child. It was old and torn as a result of being over used for several years. Sitting right next to it was a mush newer book, written by Jim's friend, and now wife, Elizabeth: _Finding Treasure Planet._ The case also held pictures of when Jim and Elizabeth graduated from the Intersteller Academy in uniform; Jim's tassel; and pictures of both Jim and his son Jeremy as little boys, Jim reading the old Treasure Planet book and Jeremy reading the new one. Sarah was proud of her son and the man he had become and the father he never had.

It was almost time for the dining area to close and many of the people were starting to filter out. When the last person had gone and Sarah started to clean up a knock came from the main door. When she opened it up she found herself staring face to face with Jim.

"Oh, Jim! What are you doing here at this time of night?"

"Can't a guy just visit his mother?" he said as he walked past her into the dining room.

"Yes, but day light hours are also good." She shut the door and followed him to a table.

"Well, if you don't want me here I'll just leave." Sarah had to roll her eyes at his all too obvious mockery.

"Jim, I'm always happy to see you." She smiled at him in a way that Jim would classify as a mom smile. He always thought it was just her smile but he had seen his own wife smile the same way at their son and even the captain at her children.

Jim also had a classification for mom eyes. There were mom eyes that said 'My child, I love you,' and then there were the mom eyes she was giving him now that said 'My child, I see right through you.' Jim knew he couldn't get anything past her.

"Alright, you got me. I'm here on official Navy business," Jim told her with a smile.

"Oh, and what sort of business is it that the Navy had to send Captain James Hawkins to my inn?"

"Why, you of course."

"Me?"

"Come on, I'll tell you about it as I help you clean up." Sarah laughed at the statement. "What?" he said.

"This must be good if your helping me clean."

"So the Navy has assigned you to this 5 month mission and you want me to come with you."

They had finished cleaning most of the mess in the dining area while Jim had told her the story. Now they were in the kitchen washing dishes.

"Yes, but not like a vacation. I want to hire you as the ships main cook. You don't have to accept. I think it would be nice if you did because Liz and I decided to bring Jeremy and Captain Amelia is bringing Doc and their six."

"I would really love too."

"But?"

"But, I can't leave the Benbow for five months."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled slyly.

"The Benbow, or that ruggedly handsome flower vendor that's been in here for lunch every day for the last three weeks?"

"James Pleiades Hawkins!"

Her reaction had Jim practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Sarah's face was bright red.

"How would you know, you don't come here nearly as often."

"I know because one of the flower stands he owns is between Montressor's Navy Post and my house. After I noticed the way he looks at you I couldn't help but to stop and talk to him while he was there."

"What did you tell him!"

"Mom, relax. It was just small talk. Well, I made small talk; his talk was mostly about this lovely inn keeper with a wonderful personality and a laugh warmer than any sun."

"He said that?" she asked shyly while drying a plate.

"Yeah. If you're really worried about the inn you could let him run it for you while you're gone. He runs a tight ship and probably has the menu memorized by now.

"Jim…"

"No, seriously. You just have to adjust the schedules of the three people you have working for you and he could come here 3-4 times a week to make sure all of your bookkeeping is done right. You can even pay him for it."

"I can't ask him to do that."

"You don't have to."

"You're not going to ask him either."

"Too late. He's coming by tomorrow to talk to you." She was going to object but Jim cut her off. "Before you say anything just talk to him and then tell me your decision."

"Why do I think this is more than just you finding me a replacement?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said innocently. After several moments of silence Sarah spoke.

"Alright, I'll talk to him, but don't get your hopes up."

"Great, I need an answer before 1600 hours tomorrow."

"Alright, goodbye."

"Bye mom. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He kissed her on the cheek and went out the door. She locked it behind him while she shook her head and chuckled.

"What am I going to do with him?"

**Damn, I started writing this chapter over winter break and now it's almost March. I will finish this story I have the whole story line written, I just have to find to type it. **

**I have an outline that's XIV (14) sections long and this chapter concludes section II. All of my sections are multiple chapters except for section I which was just chapter 1.**

**I am making it my goal to be done before the summer is over. Then I can say I finished this in slightly over a year, less that if I finish before July. Reviews are nice, even from non-authors.**


	4. Leaving Land

This is dedicated to all of those people out there that love their families.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

_Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard_

Chapter 4: Leaving Land

Getting up before the sun was just too early for Jim. He could never understand how his wife did it. He always thought that the longer he was Captain the more he would get use to it. He was sadly mistaken. Finally getting enough gumption to get out of bed, he went to the bathroom to dress and clean up before heading down to an early breakfast.

"Morning," he said to he said to Liz and Jeremy.

"Good morning Jim."

"Morning Pops"

"Pops? You make me feel so old, you know that?"

"Stop talking and eat you two, we're running late." Jim watched her walk back to the kitchen and then leaned over to his son.

"Someone's bossy this morning." Jeremy started to laugh but was cut short by his mother's voice.

"I heard that!"

A little while later the three of them were walking to the Benbow. As they made it up the steps they heard a loud crashing noise. Jim dropped his bags on the porch and ran inside to find out what had happened. When he came to the kitchen he was greeted with the sight of pots and pans lying everywhere, two Benbow employees look highly agitated, and one overly excited and extremely annoying robot lying in the floor.

"Need some help there B.E.N.?"

"Jimmy!" he shouted before jumping up and latching himself to the front of Jim.

"B.E.N.!"

"Oh, right sorry, no touching."

"It's fine, just ask first."

"What happened," yelled Sarah as she walked into the kitchen.

"B.E.N. happened," said one of the workers.

"I'm real sorry Sarah, I'll have this picked up in no time."

"I think Mark and Trish can handle it. Why don't you help Jim with his stuff?"

"Okey Dokey." With that he went through the kitchen into the dining area.

"I really don't think I should leave the Inn."

"It's okay Ms. Hawkins we can handle it," said Trish soothingly.

"Yeah, B.E.N.'s going with you, remember?" laughed Mark.

"It will be fine mom. Come on, the Captain and Doc will be here any minute."

Jim had gone upstairs to help Sarah bring her stuff down when a knock came at the door. Jeremy opened it to let the Doppler's in.

"Ah, good morning Jeremy." He smiled at Doctor Doppler and swung the door open wider so they could all come inside. All of the Doppler kids looked like they could use more sleep and Darren looked like he could fall and take a nap on the floor.

"Good morning Doc, morning Captain." Just then Liz came out of the kitchen and Jim and Sarah appeared on the stairs. After about 500 greeting were thrown back and forth they moved on to going threw one final check list. Everyone made sure they had enough cloths, hygiene products, extra medical supplies, as well as any other essential items they might have needed, packed and ready to go. Once they were done they all headed out the door and toward the transport station.

The newly fallen rain had left the air fresh and clean in the port. The birds were out singing and chirping away. Dylan felt like he could relate to what they were feeling because he knew they hated the rain, and didn't much care for it either but after the rain had stopped it was like a fog had been lifted and everything was so much clearer and certain. To Dylan, this was his favorite kind of weather. It was one of the many things that he and his father had in common. Today, it seemed to bring extra comfort to him because he was depressed lately and had no idea why. Normally he loved to write and draw and he was quite good at both, but in the last couple of months had only drawn one picture and had stopped writing all together. Now that he feels like using pen and paper and he doesn't have time to use them. He was just happy to be happy despite the cold air. It may have chilled his skin, but it warmed his sole, and that was all that mattered. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his parents talking about him.

"I don't think I've seen him this happy since I came home from my last voyage," Amelia whispered, thinking only Delbert could hear her.

"I know I just wish I knew what was wrong with him."

"I feel the same way, but he won't tell us anything. Every time we try and get him to talk he says as little as possible or doesn't say anything at all." Dylan was catching every word and was afraid of where the conversation might lead them so he cut in.

"Hey, do you guys want to see a picture of the manor I finished yesterday?" Amelia and Delbert gave each other hesitant glances realizing he had caught them talking about him. They silently let the subject drop and turned their attention back to Dylan.

"We would love to see it."

He took the picture out of his pocket and gave it to his mom.

"You did this?" she asked with awe.

"Yep, it took me longer than I thought it was going to. I had to start over several times." She handed it to Delbert who was just as amazed.

"This looks professional."

"It's not that good," Dylan said slightly embarrassed.

"It's wonderful," Delbert told him. As he was handing the picture back the ships came into view and everyone picked up pace.

The Doppler's and B.E.N. made their way toward _The Legacy_ and waved to the Hawkins' as they head toward the _Fire Rider_.

"We launch at 0900 hours. Once everything is underway and we are far enough away from port there will be a meeting aboard my ship so we can all collaborate on a course and then our map maker can make each captain a map. Until then Mr. Jackson, prepare for launch."

"Aye, aye Captain."

"Let's get these miserable ships off the ground."

_The Legacy_, followed by the _Fire Rider_ and the _Star Gliders_ slowly pulled away from the docks as sails went up and gravity seemed to disappear. People were running around on all three ships securing lines and tying things down. Jackson looked to Captain Amelia when everything was ready and received a quick nod in return. Everyone steeled themselves when they heard the First Mate give the command to launch.

"Full speed ahead!"

The ships shot off into space and Doctor Doppler lost his footing, but before he could fall, a hand reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. When he finally started to gain his momentum back he realized it was Amelia who caught him.

"We've known each other for twenty-three years and your reflexes still baffle me."

"It's all about anticipation"

"You anticipated me falling?"

"Yes, well, we've known each other for twenty-**two** years and your clumsiness still baffles me. It's a good thing it doesn't still surprise me or you would have slammed into the wall…again."

Delbert turned red from embarrassment while not being quite sure of what was more embarrassing: his almost tumble, being an astrophysicist who just messed up simple math, or the fact that he even had to do the math to know how long he had known Amelia. He tried to say something to gain a little bit of his dignity back, but before he could she put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll talk later during lunch right now I have a meeting to conduct."

He grabbed her hand briefly and she smiled at him before they both returned to a professional state.

Delbert headed down to the cabins that were located below the state room. He found his six kids unpacking.

"Now's the time to relax because once your mother is done with her meeting she's going to have plenty of work for all of you."

They all groaned and resumed their tasks as their father went back on deck. They had two rooms, boys and girls, that were located directly across the hall for each other. Abby was the first to unpack and have everything arranged the way she wanted it and decided she had spent enough time in her cramped room. She hated being confined and often liked to be alone which was going to make staying in the room difficult because it was small and she was sharing it with her sisters. In her haste to leave the cabin, she ran directly into someone and sent them both flying to the floor.

"Oh, god, I am so terribly sorry. I really should have been watching where I was walking. I can be rather clumsy at times."

She had run into a human boy who couldn't have be more than a year or two older that herself. He had a rich British accent that was much more sophisticated than hers. His hair was coal black; his eyes were a deep ocean blue, and a very light skin tone. She felt like the wind had been knocked right out of her.

"Hello, are you alright?"

"What?" she said with heavy confusion.

"I said are you alright?"

"Oh, you're fine... I mean I'm fine. It was just as much my fault; I shouldn't have been in such a rush. I just like to get my work done. The Captain doesn't like people being slow when she's in charge."

"I don't think there's any need for you to rush, Captain Doppler is going to be in today's meeting for a while. Did you say the Captain is female?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

She began to fell her anger rise. She couldn't stand sexist men or women.

"No, of course not. I'm just surprised because the ratio of men greatly outnumber the women, especially when it comes to hire ranking officers. I just figured that being on a ship with a female captain wasn't that great."

All of a sudden he felt the need to run, but had nowhere to go in the small corridor. Abby felt her anger subside, and spoke to him in curiosity.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"No," he said relaxing, "my uncle and I just moved to this part of the galaxy a couple of months ago. How did you know?"

"You did know the name of the ship you were going to be on, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course."

That's how I knew. Everyone on 'this side of the galaxy' knows that Captain Amelia is the Captain of the _R.L.S. Legacy_. She's the finest Captain the Navy has, man or woman."

"She sounds like an amazing person, to be better than all the rest."

"She's quick witted, has a sharp eye, refuses to let anything be done less that 'top notch,' and is never lenient with anyone except her family."

"You seem to know quite a bit about the Captain."

"Yes, I do, more than most people."

"Is she someone you admire greatly, someone your inspired by?"

"You could say that. She's not so much an Idol as my mother."

"You're her daughter?"

"Yes. As the Captain's daughter I should warn you that she doesn't to be slowed down. You should start settling in so you're ready to go when the meeting is over."

"Alright. I'll, uh, see you around then."

"Okay."

The both began to walk away slowly when the guy turned around.

"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name."

"Abigail, but you can just call me Abby."

"I'm Cornelius Castington. You can call me Jake though. It's my middle name. Cornelius makes me sound like a snob." This earned him a laugh.

"Well, I guess I should unpack."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

With that Jake went to his cabin and Abby found herself standing there wanting to know more about him. Where he was from, what his profession was, was he seeing anyone, why she wanted to know that. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard whispering behind her. She turned around and her sisters were there giving her a strange look.

"What."

"Nothing," they said mockingly.

She started to up the stairs when her Alexis called after her.

"When you two get married can I be your maid of honor?"

Her face turned bright red as she flew up the stairs

"Who's getting married?" asked Derek as he came out of his room.

"We were making fun of Abby for all but drooling over a guy staying in a cabin at the end of the hall."

Up on deck, Delbert watched Abby run across deck and down to the galley. When he went down to the cabins to see had happened to find the other three quads rolling with laughter.

"The four of you are going to be twenty years old this winter."

They immediately stopped laughing.

"The immaturity needs to stop."

"Yes dad."

All of a sudden they had the feeling this was going to be a very long trip.


	5. Coming Apart

I would just like to inform those people that have been reading this story that writing new chapters has been harder to get to that expected. I can't do anything for more than five minutes without someone in my house needing me to do something or when there are days with nothing to do someone outside my house needs my help. I think I'm just going to write after everyone goes to sleep; it's about the only time I can find.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

_The hardest part in life is trying to show the smile you know is fake and to hide the tears that won't stop. –Unknown_

Chapter 5: Coming Apart

The fleet had been in space for more than a month now and everything was moving smoothly. Of course that also meant that it was boring. It was a Navy sanctioned fleet, not a cruise. Those were the words that the Captain told him almost every day. Darren wasn't looking for some fantastic rock climbing adventure or a hot tub to lounge in. At this point he would settle for some crayons and paper. The most exciting part of his day was the morning meetings when all of the ships were docked together. After the meetings would start he would cross to another ship just for the change of scenery. He didn't care if it made his chores run later than everyone else, it's not like they did anything afterward.

He felt really bad for Jeremy thought, at least when he was done Darren had five other companions to talk to, Jeremy didn't have anyone his age with him on his dads ship. The poor twelve year old could only listen to older crew members reminisce about the past or talk about things no preteen has any interest in. That's why Darren and Dylan tried to spend as much time with him as possible. It was nice for the two of them to hang with him because then they could play things like hide and seek and have a good excuse. His older siblings thought they were to mature to be play games like that. Truthfully, Darren knew they wanted to play, but they didn't want the crew to see them as kids.

His favorite company though had always been his twin. Nobody knew him better than Dylan and he knew Dylan better than anybody else. But lately his best friend had been growing steadily more quiet and withdrawn. At first Darren thought he was just home sick because he wasn't much of a spacer or thrill seeker, not that this experience had been particularly exciting, but then it seemed to get worse. Dylan hardly said anything anymore. He only talked when it was absolutely necessary and even then he spoke with as few words as possible. At the end of most days he would go to bed early because of a head ache that he would never take medicine for. Darren knew his parents were concerned but as busy as they have been he was sure they didn't know exactly how bad he had gotten. He tried to do everything he could to make him happy and, even though it didn't seem to work, he would continue to try.

"Hey Dylan, want to head over to the _Fire Rider_?"

"Sure." Darren mentally sighed. That single word and a shoulder shrug was the most he was going to get. The worst part was the lack of emotion and conviction he spoke with.

"That's all you're going to say," he said a bit angrily.

"I guess," he replied quietly and like he hadn't noticed the anger his twin had displayed.

Darren was going to say something else but then decide to let it go because it wouldn't make much of a difference either way.

"Come on." He walked across the deck and on to the gang plank with Dylan following suit.

Jeremy seen them coming and decided his work could wait a little so he put the mop down and went to greet his friends.

"Hey guys, what's shaking?"

"Jeremy, no matter what you do, those phrases will never come back into style."

"I can try. Hey Dylan."

"Hi."

Jeremy looked at Darren as if to ask what was wrong and Darren just shook his head.

"So anything particular you guys had in mind."

"No we were hoping you would come up with something this time."

Before the boy could speak, a certain mischievous pink blob interrupted. He flew around their heads so fast it made them dizzy and then proceeded to steal Darren's ski cap right off his head. It was really to warm for one but never took it off.

"Hey!"

"Hey!" Morph mimicked before cackling and flying below deck toward the long boat bay.

"After him."

They took pursuit of the miniature thief down the stairs but when they made it to the bottom he was nowhere in sight.

"Let's split up," suggested Jeremy.

They took off in different directions. Dylan didn't have much interest in it but helped them anyway. He made his way down the hallway while the other two went around the corner the other direction. He looked in all of the small spaces and kept an eye out for anything that looked out of place. He made it half way down the hall when he noticed the door to the engine room stood cracked a couple of inches. When repairs weren't being done nobody was in there and the door would be closed. Morph was most likely the cause so Dylan looked around to make sure no one was watching and then slowly opened the door.

He instantly knew something was wrong because the room was trashed and tools were slung all across the floor. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and he felt a shiver crawl up his spine. He took a couple more tentative steps into the room and smelt something fieghtly metallic.

Without warning his head started to pound. This was the worst time for him to have one of his headaches. They always hurt so bad they made his vision swim and blur and more often than not it was enough to make him see things that weren't there. This hurt more that any he had gotten so far, he could practically hear the blood rushing to his head. The pain was so bad he almost let out a scream but then it stop instantly. When he finally opened his eyes everything was spinning in all different directions. Even in the mess of swirling he was experiencing he could see something in the darkest corner of the room. He thought it was two red warning lights indicating a problem but when the room slowed down enough he realized they were eyes watching him; mocking him.

No! It wasn't real. It was the headache making him see things, it had to be. Hundreds of different species of intelligent life existed in the galaxy and not one of them had red eyes. They were so far off the ground and so far apart that whatever he was seeing was at least four times his size. They were so cold and maniacal and full of blood lust. It just couldn't be real. All he had to do was be calm and walk back to his room and go to sleep, sleep always helped him. He took one step back followed very slowly by another. He was going to take another but he felt something drip on his right cheek. He toughed it with his finger to see what it was but it was too dark in the room. One more drop fell on his forehead and he realized it was warm and sticky. The drops started to fall quicker on to his face before it was like standing in the rain. He didn't need to see it now to know what it was. It went it his mouth and he could taste the sickening combination of iron and salt.

He looked up with just enough light from the hallway coming in through the door that he could see the body of a cadet in training to be and engineer broken mauled and bleeding, plastered to the ceiling, staring back at him with dead eyes.

He couldn't take these hallucinations anymore; they were too strong and terrifying. Dylan collapsed to his hands and knees as he wrenched vile on to the floor over and over again. He gasped for air and choked between each one while tears ran down his face. Finally, he stopped throwing up and proceeded to breathe deeply to calm and cool down. Dylan felt like he was in a trance, he stood up and walked out of the room and then wander aimlessly around the lower part of the ship. He couldn't walk anymore and collapsed against the wall and slid to the floor next to a crate. He heard voices but they sounded so far away. He didn't pay any attention to them, he had his own problems.

He sat motionless against the wall unable to move. Then he felt something grab and shake him and the only thing he could think was that someone was going to kill him. So with the last of his strength he began to fight back.

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*

It had taken forever, but Darren finally found his hat. Normally it agitated and even pissed him off when Morph hid things, but today he was glad for the little game of lost and found because it had given him something to do. He found Jeremy looking under a tarp still searching.

"Found my hat."

"Did you find Morph?"

"No, but he's around here somewhere. Come on, he'll find us when he tired of hiding."

They walked back down the corridor looking for Dylan to tell him they had found it. He walked a little but didn't see his brother anywhere. Darren started to turn around when the open engine room door being open caught his eye. It wasn't normal for the door to be open unless someone was in there. There couldn't have been because the light was off. He went to check it out but was far more disturbed by the blood foot prints leading out and in the opposite direction. There was no trail to follow because there were only four sets of prints. There wasn't enough blood to leave a longer trail. He walked beyond the prints and then made a left. He was about turn around and go back to Jeremy, thinking Dylan had already gone back up, when he seen what looked like someone sitting on the other side of a crate down the hall.

When he got there he found his brother sitting in the floor covered in blood and vomit looking completely hysterical.

"Oh god, Dylan! Dylan! What happened?"

Nothing, his twin didn't answer or even look at him.

"Answer me!"

Still nothing. Darren bent over and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and shook him.

"Snap out of it god damn it and say something."

He finally received a reaction but not the one he was looking for. Dylan began to struggle with him while going into hysteria and screaming.

"NO! please let me go. Make them stop."

They struggled with one another and Jeremy watched, horrified from the end of the hall. Then he decided that he needed to get help, there was far more wrong with Dylan than anyone had thought. He ran as fast as he could to the meeting. He was so afraid for his friend that, before he made it to help, tears had started rolling down his face. He didn't bother knocking, just burst right through the door. The entire table had gone silent and looked right at him. Jim was about yell until he saw the tears on his face. Amelia watched as Captain Hawkins went over and tried to calmly talk to his son.

"Jeremy?"

"Y-you have to come quick."

"Jeremy, what wrong?" She heard Jim ask in a concerned voice.

"I- I don't k-know. He was f-fine one… minute, and then he wasn't," he said chocking and coughing.

_Oh god_, Amelia thought, _don't let it be…_

"Th-they're in the lower corridors, d-down the left hall past the e-engine room."

"Who?"

"Darren and Dylan," he said taking a deep breath. "There's something wrong with Dylan," he sobbed.

Amelia felt like all of the air had been sucked out of her. Without a second thought, she slipped out of her Captains façade and let the fear take over. Both she and Delbert were out of their chairs and running toward the corridors with Jim and Elizabeth close behind. When she found them Amelia felt like time had slowed down. She could see Darren standing over Dylan yelling at him while he was in the corner with his head buried in his knees and his hands over his head.

"Stop this Dylan, please get up!" he pleaded. He remained in the floor.

"It wasn't real. None of it was real. Red eyes aren't real. It can't hurt you if it's not real."

Darren was about to resume his shaking when Delbert through his arms around him and held him back. They watched Amelia bend down and try to calm him. He continued to cry and sob things that didn't make sense. Darren tried to break free from his father's grasp but Delbert held on tightly.

"Stop, let your mother talk to him." He wanted to do something but he didn't know what, so he stopped. After about five minutes Amelia had calmed him down. She pulled him up and half walked half dragged him back to the _Legacy _with Delbert doing the same thing with Darren behind her.

"What happened?" asked Derek and her daughters.

"Go back to your cabins and stay there until one of us comes down."

"But…" they started to protest.

"Go! Now!" she demanded harshly. They practically ran back.

They took them to Amelia's state room and closed the door behind the four of them. She gently sat Dylan down in a chair.

"Dylan, love, can you hear me?"

She received no response.

"Baby, please, answer me."

Still nothing. The vacant look in his eye told her he wasn't even there with them.

"Amelia, let me take him and clean him up."

"Okay."

He lead his son to the bathroom and turned on the water. Amelia took Dylan and sat him down on her bed.

"Tell me very slowly what happen."

Darren took a deep breath and nodded before painfully recalling everything he knew. After that she pulled him close and they sat in silence for a while.

"Is he going to be okay."

"Oh, I hope so love, I hope so."

Dylan was so exhausted that by time Delbert had taken the boy to his bed he had fallen asleep. Delbert had explained to Derek what had happen while Amelia told the girls. Then they told them that at least one of them was to be with him at all times. Everything else that day seemed to happen in a blur. The two of them didn't attend anymore of the meetings; they stayed in the stateroom and checked constantly on the twins. The only person that talked to them the rest of the day was Amelia's first mate to tell them that someone had been found dead in Captain Hawkins' engine room.

Amelia knew something was wrong with him lately and finding this body must have sent him over the edge.

Night finally came and Amelia and Delbert were both tired and upset.

"Amelia, come to bed. We're both in dire need of sleep."

"I think I'm going to take a shower first."

She let the water get really hot and then she climbed in and let the hot water ease the tension in her aching muscles. The day was finally catching up to her. Her son needed help and there was no way to get that kind of help out here in space. How long had he actually been feeling like this? She hadn't even noticed how bad it was. Amelia had been holding in her emotions all day but she couldn't anymore. She curled her fist into a ball and punched the wall so hard it tore the skin off her knuckles and then she bled. The next thing she knew she was sobbing. She hated what was happening to Dylan, but more than anything she hated herself for not seeing it. When her children were first born she made a promise to herself that being a Captain wouldn't interfere with being a good mum. She had been good one her promise until now. Amelia made up her mind right there, this was it. This was her last mission.

She climbed out and put on pajamas and left the bathroom. Delbert was sitting on the bed looking at her as she sat next to him. Silently he lifted her bleeding hand and without saying a word grabbed a first aid kit to fix her hand. When he was done they climbed into bed. Delbert took Amelia into his arms and pulled her back to his chest, putting his head in the crook of her neck.

"Delbert."

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you so much, Amelia."

She felt his tears on her neck just before she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

**I have always thought that the moment when Spike first found out Buffy wasn't dead anymore in season six of **_**Buffy the Vampire Slayer **_**was one of the best Spuffy moments in the show. Her knuckles were bloody and he was very tender about fixing her hand. But the gesture of cleaning her hand was a metaphor for comforting someone who they themselves were broken. Not, only that, but it was a statement that even people who seem to be the strong ones aren't perfect and need help sometimes too. I thought that it was a nice parallel that fit well here. **


	6. The Journal

I'm on a roll. To some people it might not seem like I've updated too often, but for me these last two chapters and a chapter to my other story have been put up practically back to back.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

_However long the night, the dawn will break.  
- African Proverb_

Chapter 6: The Journal

It had been three weeks since the episode on the _Fire Rider _and Dylan was still unresponsive. He was like a puppet that would do whatever you told him but there was no sign of him in there anywhere. His eyes were vacant and lifeless and showed no signs of knowing you were there unless you told him to do something. Delbert didn't know how much longer he could take seeing his son like this. It was also affecting Amelia just as bad, plus she had the responsibility of this entire voyage on her shoulders. He knew she cried every night in the shower. He wanted to as well but Delbert had to hold it together for Amelia and his kids. With all of the pressure she was feeling if he didn't help hold her in one piece, she would fall apart.

That scared him quite a bit. Ever since the moment he had met Amelia he had never known anything to break her. Losing Arrow on the Treasure Planet voyage and hurt her quite a bit but she remained strong. Now, he was afraid if anything became any worse with Dylan, she would break.

He seemed a bit lost too. He needed to find something that could help them figure out what was wrong with Dylan. He couldn't help but to feel responsible for not finding better help when the headaches started. The doctors told them the headaches were nothing. They were clearly wrong, he should have listened to his gut and found a specialist. Now, he was doing the only thing he could.

He was going threw his sons stuff for a clue about what Dylan might have known. He was about to give up looking when a journal caught his eye. He knew it was wrong to read something private, but he would worry about it later. He opened it up and flipped through the entries. It all seemed like typical teenager stuff.

_February 22_

_I wish I was an only child. I always thought things would be better when the quads left, but Darren's been annoying enough for all of them…_

Delbert flipped through several more pages.

_April 14_

_I don't much feel like writing, I have a splitting headache, but I have to write about something I seen in town. It was the coolest and weirdest thing I have ever seen…_

April, Delbert thought. That's when the migraines started. He flipped several more pages.

_June 10_

_I can't wait for this voyage. I've been preparing for practically since mum accepted it. I haven't felt very good lately and not like the flu. Depressed maybe, but I don't have a reason to be…_

Damn it, Amelia and I both noticed it then. We were both so busy with this that we didn't do anything. I could kill myself.

_June 22_

_We just launched and the Captains and every other important person on this trip are in a meeting. I don't have much time to write but I need to get this down. My parents are starting to notice something. They were talking about it earlier, but it isn't serious, and there's nothing to worry about so I tried a last ditch attempt to get them to stop talking about by showing them something I had drawn. Now that we've launched I hope they'll be busy and forget about it. I don't need them fussing over me. I don't have time to write more but I'll try to write later._

_-Dylan Doppler_

He heard us talking. He was trying to hide it. God I wish he wouldn't have, now look what's happened. When Delbert continued looking through the pages he found there was only one more journal entry in it. It was dated the day before his breakdown.

_August 4 _

_Darkness._

_Trapped in an endless sea of black with no air to breath, like floating alone in space but without the light of the stars. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get air._

_I've given up trying. Sometimes it's easier to let my lungs burn._

_I can't feel like I use to, as if someone has bled all of the emotion out of me. For months now I've slowly begun to care less and less. I have the same dream every night, a violent and torturing nightmare. I feel like my most valuable possession has been mutilated for someone else's pleasure at the expense of my sanity. When I'm awake I see things I know aren't there be I see them none the less, and they see me. I can feel me being watched everywhere I turn._

_No, that's completely ridicules. I'm imagining it all. As long as I'm aware that none of it is real I can deal with it._

_For quite some time now I've felt nothing. I would do anything to be happy again, or angry, of even sad. This lack of caring is driving me even more mad than I already am. I would give anything, and it concerns me but I've even considered suicide. I know I need to tell someone before I hurt myself but I just can't seem to care._

_Suicide is insane and irrational, but I'm not either of those things anymore._

_In my dream the lack of air burns my lungs so bad that I pass out. I'm terrified of suffocating. It's the only time I feel, when I have this dream. I have the same dream every night._

_The next thing I know, I'm sitting in our kitchen. Everyone is there at the table eating dinner. We eat the same thing every time: nothing. I look around confused, not understanding how nobody notices the lack of food. Then, the house starts to shake causing all of the loose items to come crashing to the floor along with everything on the table. When it finally stops I look around to see everyone wearing the same terrified expression. The lights flicker off then back on and the rest of my family is gone._

_Now instead there is blood everywhere. Some of its splattered and some of its smeared but the one thing that is consistent is that there is a lot. Bloody hand prints on the table, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. I never worry about any of those prints, just the seven on my cloths, and each one from a different person. I never felt their touch, but I know who they belong to. _

_The lights flicker off again and when they turn back on I'm sitting in the living room it front of the television. I make no attempt to move, afraid of what would happen if I did. It came on by itself and was playing home videos of my family, so almost twenty years old. I watch in horror as the images shift and we start to bleed and skin peels away, muscles rot and decay all the way down to the bone. Some of them are missing limbs entirely._

_The screen goes blank._

_Everything begins shaking again. It's only me this time shaking from fright. A horrible smell hits my nose. A sick combination of salt and iron_

_Blood._

_Its pouring out of the line where the wall meets the ceiling. It runs out of the television, the books, the fire place, and the pictures on the wall. It bubbles out of the floor and begins to fill up the living room like a swimming pool. I feel like I'm going to vomit but before my stomach gives out, the lights flicker out again._

_This time it stays dark for some time. Then a single light turns on over head. I know where I'm at because of the mirror in front of me. I'm at the end of the second floor hallway farthest away from the main stair case. When I look into the only thing I see is me._

_Another light turns on. It's at the other end of the hallway. Standing in the light, staring at me with unforgettable red eyes, is a murderous creature unlike any other. At his feet is dad, or what's left of him. The creature had ripped him to shreds. The light went off then another one came on and this time he was one light closer. He continued to do this and every time there was a different person I cared about dead at his feet. At last he was one light behind me. My twin was the last but he was still alive._

"_Help me," he choked out._

_Before I could do anything the light flickered and his head was gone. Both lights go out and my light comes back on and this terrifying creature is standing next to me. I can actually hear my heart pounding away. It looks at me and then at my reflection. When I turn back to the mirror I see that I am now the mangled body. The demon flashes a horrible smile exposing its sharp teeth. Hundreds, all at least two inches in length, are dripping red saliva. In the blink of an eye, it's biting into my shoulder. I feel the searing pain for what feels like an eternity. Then everything goes black and the dream starts over again, repeating several times always back to the same point. _

_Once again I'm struggling for air. I feel death creep into my body as my lungs burn in my chest. It happens so many times that eventually I would like nothing more than to die. Then, just as I'm sure the time has come, I wake up._

_I wake up to another day of emotionless living, waiting for the dream to start again, because I honestly don't know what's worse. Felling this terrible nightmare…_

_Or feeling nothing at all._

_-Dylan Doppler._

Delbert dropped the journal from shock. He couldn't believe what he had just read. It was so disturbing. He had no idea the severity of what was happening to his son, but to hear something like this made Delbert sick to his stomach. The most disturbing part was that there truly was a lack of emotion in it, like his son didn't care about what he was writing.

He picked it back up and reread everything. He now understood what caused his sons hysteria. He had lived something from his dream in real life. He had to show Amelia, tonight.

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*

It was a quiet night aboard the ship and the starts were beautiful. It was hard to enjoy them when your brothers sick and there's a murderer somewhere. Abby leaned against the railing for a little while longer before she decided it was time to return to her room. As she slowly made her way down the corridor, she father came out of the boys' cabin. He looked shaken.

"Dad what's wrong?" He looked up at her but didn't say anything. She didn't need to know about what he had found; the situation was already upsetting enough.

"It's nothing you need to worry about."

It agitated her when people said that, like she was to fragile. He hardly ever did it though, Delbert had always treated her like an adult. It made her worry.

"Dad," she said quietly, "you can tell me, I'm not five."

He sighed while contemplating whether he should tell her, but decided not to. He decided to give a good answer why he wasn't going to tell her.

"I know you're not." He put a hand on her shoulder. "But this is something that should stay between me and your mother, okay."

She really wanted to press, but she trusted him so she didn't.

"Yeah, okay."

"Good, now why don't you get some sleep."

Abby shook her head but was now to upset. After her father had left she when down to the long boat bay. She had been sitting in the boat for quite some time when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

She turned around to see a face that she had become accustomed and quite attached to over the course of the voyage. Right now, this was just the person she wanted for company, the only person she wanted for company.

"I would love your companionship, Jake."

She smiled, but she didn't feel any better than before. He climbed silently into the boat with her.

"What, good sir, brings you out at this hour?"

"I, uh, seen you walk down here. You looked upset, I just wanted you to know, you can always talk to me."

"Thank you," she said softly. They became silent again, but it was a comfortable one. He swept the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear causing her face to turn red. He coughed and drew his hand away. She grabbed his hand in hers and held it where it was.

Without realizing it, they came closer to one another. Abby could feel Jake's lips brush past hers and with a sudden boldness, closed the gap and kissed him. She felt lightning shoot through her entire body, it was so intense she couldn't breathe. She had become dizzy and had to put her arms around his neck to steady herself. His arms automatically went around her waist. When they had finally run out of air, they pulled away, but only by millimeters.

"That was amazing," she said in a breathless voice. The euphoria only lasted a couple of seconds before she was back to worrying again.

"Why don't you tell me what's bothering you."

She turned back to face forward on the bench. Her elbows went to her knees and she put her head in her hands. She let out a single sob and Jake put his arms around her and held her close.

"He's getting worse, every day it seems like there is less of him in there. We all seen it early on but nobody thought it was this bad. He use to have such a bright personality, so happy and energetic. If it's having this kind of effect on the outside, just imagine what's going on in his head. I don't even want to think about it."

"Then don't think about it. The only thing you can do it to think about the positive and try to help him. I'll help too, if you want me to."

She smiled at him.

"I would love that, we all would."

"Then, I think I'll start now." He slid off into the floor. Once he was comfortable he held his hand out to her. She sat in the floor next to him and put her head on his shoulders. They sat there in silence before they drifted off to sleep.


	7. The Light in the Dark

I admit I have a problem updating my story quick enough. In my defense, I put more than 130 hours into one project assignment this semester, not to mention the other projects and other classes I was in.

Important: This is where I stopped updating my last version of this story so everything else that gets updated after this is new to everyone.

**Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.**

_Sadness flies on the wings of the morning, and out of the heart of darkness comes the light. - __Jean Giraudoux_

Chapter 7: The Light in the Dark

Delbert was petrified of the journal now in his possession. He his intent was to show Amelia right away, but then he realized she was still in a meeting. He though it would give him time to think about how to approach the subject but all it really did was give him time to change his mind about showing her at all.

The brown leather book he had gotten for his son as a Christmas gift last year laid on his bed side table but its presence wasn't nearly as smooth and more like acid. Delbert was afraid to even touch because the sight of it made his flesh sting.

Finally, he picked it up one more time and read the last passage once more, then again, and again until he had read it close to a dozen times and had committed the entire entry to memory and he would never forget it. He had wanted to find clues and instead only found something more confusing and heart breaking.

Just when Delbert had decided to put the journal away Amelia walked into the room looking a little more of the life had drained out of her. It made his heart break and if it broke anymore he didn't know if he could stand it. She gave him a weak smile and proceeded to put away put things away silently before sitting down on the bed beside him and burying her face in her hands.

"How did the meeting go?" He had no idea what else to say. She moved her hands just enough to give him a wary answer.

"Good…bad…I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention. I'm not even sure my head is on strait. I have so much work to do because I do nothing but worry about Dylan. I need to be helping my son but I don't have the time. Plus, I have an entire fleet of people I'm responsible for and I can honestly say that for the first time in my career I don't feel like I have the ability to make responsible decisions if their lives were to be put into danger."

As he listen to her ranting Delbert thought it was best that he not show her the journal for the moment it would make it worse.

"I swore that when the quads were born that I would continue with my career but only as long as it didn't interfere with us as a family and I was good on my promise, until this voyage. I brought my son out here where there is no help, knowing, in my gut, that something was wrong with him and now we can't do anything to help him until we go home."

Before Delbert could say that he held just as much of the blame she spoke again.

"I think that after this," she said as she looked up at him, "I'm done. This is my last voyage."

Delbert couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Are you saying that you quit." Silence was all the conformation he needed.

"I have known you for twenty-two years, Amelia, and I have come to know you as many things. Granted, at first, most of those things weren't so nice…" it earned him a small chuckle so he continued. "but the one thing I have never considered you, even for a second, was a quitter."

"If you're trying to make me feel better or change my mind you're doing it all wrong." He watched as she laid face down into a pillow and sighed.

"Sorry, I should have chosen my words better. All, I'm saying is you're under a ton of stress, we all are, but maybe you should wait until we're home and we've found help for Dylan before you make up your mind."

She was silent for a long time before answering. She rolled over and looked at him.

"I'll think on it." She sat up "but right now I have more work to do." She said getting up and going to the door and then paused for a second. "We'll talk at dinner." Then she left and closed the door.

He wasn't sure, but it felt like the foundation between them was starting to form cracks.

Jeremy felt like there was this huge haze clinging to him making it hard to breathe. He understood that there were people out there that weren't right in the head, but he never thought that it would happen to someone he had know his whole life. The state Dylan had been left him wondering about a lot. Mostly though, it left him scared. He was scared for his friend and scared for himself. If something like this could happen to his friend then what was to say it couldn't happen to him.

Ever sense then, Jeremy has found himself wanting to always be as close to his father as he possibly can get. He was currently sitting on the steps waiting for the meeting to end so that he could go with his father on his rounds. He tried to think of happy and random things to help keep the dark thoughts away when two voices interrupted him.

"I've compiled piles of information on the kid's brainwaves and I think it's finally time to up him to the last dose. He'll lose his mind in about two weeks. Once he goes on a rampage and hurts someone they'll all think he's the killer."

"It's about time. It has never taken this long before."

"We've never had a subject with his intelligence level. We've also never had one that was really healthy."

"It is also producing the desired affects with the Captain as I was hoping for. The condition we've put her son in and the stress from this voyage are pulling her apart at the seams. Once Dylan is in our control we can have him do anything we want him to, even try to kill his twin and wouldn't that just ruin the Captain."

Jeremy listened to them quietly from where they couldn't see him until they left. He received a clear view of one of the men as they went back into the meeting. It was Castington, the map maker. He was suddenly even more eager to see Jim now. Then he realized no one would believe him, it was ridicules. So he went to some who would, Darren.

Jeremy ran as fast as he could to _The Legacy. _He didn't have to look hard spotting Darren swabbing the upper deck. He was deep in thought and Jeremy had to yell at him several times to get his attention.

"Huh, is something wrong?" Jeremy looked around wildly to make sure there was no one in hearing range.

"Yes! But we can't talk about it here. Meet me in your room when you're done mopping." Before he could run off Darren grabbed his arm and jerked him back.

"Is it good or bad?" Jeremy didn't want to get into detail out in the open afraid someone would over hear them the way he had accidentally over heard Castington. The urgent tone in Darren's voice convinced him to give a quick answer.

"It kind of both but I'm not going to talk about it now. We need to talk about it when we know no one can listen in." Before Darren could ask any more questions Jeremy had ran off below deck.

As soon as he was done he went to his room to find Jeremy pacing back and forth. The second he closed the door Jeremy started ranting.

"Castington, the map maker, the guy right down the hall, he's been drugging your brother!"

"What are you talking about." He listened carefully as Jeremy relayed what he overheard and saw.

"You're sure?" exclaimed Darren

"Yes, perfectly sure."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"What, so they would think I was losing it too!"

"All right, chill. We need to find proof and then we'll tell our parents. Tomorrow morning just after their meeting starts so we have time to look. And where a hoodie with big pockets so we can sneak things out."

"Got it."

As he left Darren found some hope. His brother hasn't gone off the deep end for no reason and now they can do something about it.

The next day, when Darren was waiting around for Jeremy, his mind wandered back home. He wanted to be back there more than anything. Well, actually, he wanted his brother back more, and wanted things back to the way they were before this stupid trip. Staring at his brother now, it's like his bother isn't even with him.

He thought of the time in the first grade when they missed the bus. They didn't have the same teacher so they would play with other whenever they could. One day, after class let out they both went to the bathroom before they were both suppose to get on the bus. They decided to play in the sinks and splash each other with water. They had so much fun they completely missed their bus. Darren can still remember how angry Amelia was. Sitting, looking at his brother, he realized she had been mostly scared because they didn't get off the bus. That feeling you get when you think someone you love has been lost is the worst feeling in the universe.

Darren was shaken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Darren, are you ready."

"Yeah, just a second." He threw on his hoodie and opened the door to leave, but not before looking back at his brother. He was suppose to be watching him because his parents wanted him in someone's sight at all time. Darren didn't think he was going anywhere though. He shut the door and they went down the hall and slowly opened the door to Castington's room and quietly slipped in and shut the door.

"Don't leave anything out of place we don't want anyone to know we were here."

They quietly went through everything making sure to put everything back in its place. He must have really loved his job because there were maps on every available inch of wall space.

"Yet his guy has more maps than your dad."

Darren said nothing, just shook his head and continued to search. They looked for over half an hour and didn't find anything. Darren threw his hands up in frustration and accidentally hit the wall.

"Ow! Dammit." Jeremy went over to put the map back on the wall that he had knocked loose. As he was picking it up off the floor he saw writing on the back. It didn't understand what any of it meant but he did know it was chemistry and he also knew that map makers weren't chemists.

"Darren, I think I found what we were looking for."

"Let me see." He looked at it for a minute and then sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't show them this."

"Why?"

"Because this proves is that someone knows chemistry, not that they're doing something to my brother." Jeremy thought for a minute.

"What if one of these other maps has better proof?" They started removing maps carefully and putting them back. The fourth map pulled off the wall was just as confusing as the others, but it also had something else. His brother's name and a data chart going back to March.

"This is it!"

He was about to fold it up as best as he could to put it in his pocket when the door slammed open. Both boys were frozen staring at the figure in the door.

"What do you think you are doing in here?"


End file.
